Exploring the music and getting a piece supersafe.

[megadodd]

I'll try and make this as clear as possibly be.

When you got a piece down in you fingers, and you have memorized it.
Performed it in a couple of occasions, but you still slip up sometimes- How do you (should I) practice it to become even more accurate for the next performance?
This goes for recordings aswell, I'm recording a piece in 2 weeks and it's not just there yet, in a performance I guess it's OK to miss a couple of notes, but during a recording there can be no slips I take it.

The second matter at hand is;
I've gotten to this stage in my playing when pieces comes easily to my memory and taking them up to speed usually is rather easy. Since right now, I'm not really tackling anything insane, or have been for quite a while for that matter.

The term "adding musicality" is pretty vague and does include several things, I'm aware.
But taking the first step in a piece when you have memorized the piece and can play it at a desired tempo for me is pretty unexplored, I'm not used to spending alot of time after I complete a piece, I just basically drop it untill performance is coming up and grab 3-5 new pieces to work on.

Are there any first step, into this world of exploring the music to it's full?

[costicina]

My two cents...

When i play at impossible hours, I often practice at the digital piano, and lately I've made very intersting discoveries: 
If from time to time you play with the sound off, you’ll have unexpected  advantages: you can test how well you’ve memorized the notes, and above all you can focus to the “pattern of motions”, the mechanic of movements, understanding better the “ rythmical strucure”  the right accents (accents are essential!!!), i.e. the points where the wrist/hand/fingers should “gather energies”, so to speak, gaining momentum  and preparing for the following run or leap…

God,   it’s so difficult to explain all this in words, in a foreign language moreover...I don't know if all this make sense to you     

Margherita
 

[megadodd]

Well it does make sense, I think  !

Memorizing isn't the problem really, it's just- accuracy basically. Running the piece in half tempo, 10 times each section (If say, I divide a piece in 10 sections) is what I usually do for a daily rutine to end my practice session. This was working very good up untill a point where I increased my tempo slightly. Now it dosn't seem to give any effect.
And during the usual practice I run different rythms, dividing into groups of 3 (instead of say, 4). And all methods my teacher has thought me. I wish to get the piece up a notch in tempo, so that when I'm performing at a lower tempo than I am used to playing it on my own, it'll feel alot better.
This is the barrier at the moment, and has been with several pieces.
As for the accuracy part.

[ajspiano]

This is going to be pretty weird most likely, particularly if its not something you've thought about before. This isnt really going to be a 'practice this way' thing either..  its just one avenue for developing musicality. Its also a very personal experience of mine that may not apply to you even slightly..

EVERY note has a color (maybe not the best word) in that each note,(C vs D vs E) sounds different not just because its higher or lower but rather because it evokes a different emotional response. I use the word color because it is similar to the way that the color red may be associated with anger, or dark blue with sadness.

At the moment I'm talking about just individual notes, the idea becomes infinitely more complex with combinations of notes or progressions of notes.

As an example of what I mean - I personally find "C" when felt within a major tonality as the key center is quite specifically "triumphant" - "D" on the other hand is "uplifting". I can't really put words on them all, which I think goes toward the idea that music expresses that which can not be said. Between C and D as the example, if you play the opening progression from pachabels canon, the difference in the 'feeling' is very marked when in C as opposed to D. - seriously, I played it at a wedding once, and it works in D  - I get a sense of hope for the future. In C on the other hand, which I tried later the feeling is more like soldiers coming home victorious.

In anycase, the point is that your piece (if you allow some freedom in your mind and really listen to it as you play) will evoke a specific image or emotion for you. When you feel that emotion as you play your performance will dramatically improve. You no longer think about the notes and where you are meant to play loud or soft. Instead you feel the music, and the notes and dynamics are no longer a conscious thought. Rather, they come out exactly the way you are feeling.

This is probably why lang lang sometimes looks like an overly expressive maniac when he plays - he feels every single note. That's not to say you have to pull faces to feel the music obviously, its just a visual example of how subtle the differences are.

The added brilliance of practicing like this (feeling the music rather than playing the notes) is that you have to focus on something that isn't playing, which means you practice the playing as a secondary task, it is forced to become second nature.

Ofcourse its all very difficult to explain because it centers around emotion, and that is simply felt. It is rarely possible to apply specific words or images to an emotion since it is not a physical  construct that we can all agree upon the description of. Everyone has a unique experience that is no one elses - and you simply do not know what it is until you actually feel it.

[starstruck5]

Interesting idea that -  the Pires masterclass on YouTube is like this -  nothing very detailed or technical - but a lot about emotional response to the music.   

One of my New Year Resolutions was to stop putting Lang Lang down -but I feel he looks as if he feels every note - but I don't always hear it. Oops. Bang goes the Resolution.

[ajspiano]

Lang Lang strikes me as a performer that plays the piano, as opposed to a pianist that performs.

As a kid I figured out pretty quickly that I preferred a good crowd response to a good critique from the adjudicator at a competition. As such I dont mind Lang Lang at all - though I completely understand the negative perspective people have on him.

Goes back to the emotional disscussion. For those of us (maybe not many on this forum, certainly not me) that go to a piano recital purely for entertainment value Lang lang is THE MAN, but if you go to hear brilliant classical music because you know and love it you probably don't want the extra show, just good music. Perhaps his showmanship sometimes detracts from his musicality? I don't think he lacks musicality at all, just that he pours energy into places that mean it doesn't always come out in a flawless way.

If you have a preconceived idea of the emotion in a certain piece and it is played in a way that does not reflect that it can be annoying. I think Lang Lang is guilty of that more often than a lack of feeling in general.

[megadodd]

AJ, your post helped me alot and gave me a very good start, to make up my own mind on the subject.
About Lang Lang, I think he's a great pianist, period.

We all know F.Liszt, people didn't like him and still don't like his music because it was to flashy and was just about showing off his virtuosity. However we respect him alot more than people did before, or so I've heard, I guess no one knows really the public opinion, well..let's asume it's like that.
I think the same applies to Lang Lang, though there is a great difference between the both. The same rules apply, so to speak. My teacher for instance, who dosn't use the internet, knows nothing about the rant that goes on from people commenting on Lang Lang's performance, so she have never been affected by it, and probably have never heard a bad thing about it, coming from a "hater" or any person for that matter on say, youtube.

For all she knows, he's a GREAT pianist that does play with all of his body, for showmanship, ofcourse, but to some degree for the tone he produces.
I never dissliked Lang Lang, but I never really listened to his performances either, because of all the rumors and bad mouthing going around youtube, things like "lang lang would never be able to do it like rubinstein" and so on and so on.
So it got a little stuck in me, that he was a bit worse, than the other big pianists. Without listening to the man.

My subjective opinion; Bad taste to be all "Liszt" over again? Sure, I can go with that, it dosn't please my eye. But the other way around to my heart. I really like his playing.

[ajspiano]

AJ, your post helped me alot and gave me a very good start, to make up my own mind on the subject.

I'm glad you said 'make up your own mind'. It can only be that way - I can not tell you or anyone else to feel a certain way in response to a certain stimulus. In addition to that I think that different people have different emotional ranges. Some people would consider the idea of different notes having uniquely different colours to be completely insane, while others may consider it to be fairly simple minded and have a much more complex system going on - they may recognise unique differences between fractions of a semitone or between different octaves for example. You may also be able to develop a more detailed view on it by just listening to notes/chords or whole pieces and allowing you mind to freely respond without any mental barriers..

I will add that when I play with this type of thought process I almost hear the notes in my head a fraction of a second in advance of playing them. Rather than hearing them at the moment they sound on the piano. So, there's a concious performing of the piece in my head, and the piano is secondary - it is just the physical that the audience (if there is one) hears..  ..perhaps I could say that I'm not focused on what my instrument sounds like so much as what I intend it to sound like - and whether or not it actually sounds like that is not really something I'm concerned about because I'm already focused on what the next sound will be..

Not sure if that makes sense or not? Its not easy to do at first - I think it requires a whole other level of mastery over the notes to really be able to do well, you should just about be able to play the piece blindfolded in order to truly focus on the music instead of the playing.

On the other subject - I agree that Lang Lang is a fine pianist. The notion of "can't play like rubinstein" is a little hilarious really. Of course he can't, he's a different person. And, more importantly, we don't need a multitude of pianists that all play exactly like rubinstein. I'm happy to hear what lang lang sounds like on account of the fact that I'm listening to lang lang. If I want rubinstein I'll listen to rubinstein.

[megadodd]

I don't really know if you made sense to me or not, but I understood it in one way, hehe.
So I tried today, to experiment with a piece.
If I remember right my thought process was somethink like this;

What is the composers intention/mood in the piece? Run research.
Found out, luckily. That it was a longing for a loved person that won't love him back.
I was going to try to picture myself in this situation, but I couldn't. Something like that have never happened to me really, atleast not in a depressing way, which troubles me alot.

So I just listened to my favourite recording, aside from making pointers in my sheet while listening, like "drop tempo, voice middle notes instead of highest notes, etc" I found out when really listening, closely and putting all other things aside- it made me feel kind of indefinite, there was many moodswings imbedded in the music. And then comes the major(dur) section and it gives some sort of hope, and confidence, only to resolve into the despair of reality.

So I'm thinking to myself, what is this artist doing that makes me feel like this, that I cannot do to myself, with the same pictures in my head, and the same notes? I guess that is what differs a good pianist from an avarage one. But I should atleast be able to make myself pleased, knowing what I want.

This is the hard part though, I'm figuring- I could ofcourse experiment with a phrase and play it completely (in a subtle way) different. And just take the one I like most, and do it over, and over again so it's kind of like a "learnt musicality".
Or I could try to remember that exact feeling I had, and mix it up every time, but striving for the same thing. I don't know which is best, I like minitious work though, so the first one seems to be the propper choice for me, in theory that is.

What's your thoughts about trying to, take a piece- learn the notes, memorize, perhaps give it a rest 1 week, get back to getting the notes down. And then to learn the musical expression, not by making it up on the spot, but having it prepared and notoriously push it into the practice. To try and get exact results for a performance, as much as possible that is.
As opposed to, the second method of making it up on the spot, just feeling it?

[ajspiano]

I found out when really listening, closely and putting all other things aside- it made me feel kind of indefinite, there was many moodswings imbedded in the music. And then comes the major(dur) section and it gives some sort of hope, and confidence, only to resolve into the despair of reality.

This is what I mean, you had an emotional response to the sound.

What it seems like you did beyond that is tried to rationally analyse how to achieve the sound. This is a good start for having a clue about how you want to sound. Its possible to take that to the piano and conciously think "loud here" or "decrescendo here" in an attempt evoke the same emotion in a listener.

BUT, that would be akin to trying to analyse how to sound angry when you talk and imitate it. If you want to sound angry it would be far more effective to just have someone annoy you until you become angry and then yell at them - much more convincing because its real.

Start away from the instrument - listen to your recording as a starting reference, then listen to it in your mind. As in, don't play it, or listen to the actual recording - just hear it inside you. Try to hear all the notes, but if that's too difficult just hear the melody. By doing this you should be able to evoke the emotion inside you without playing or actually hearing a real sound. Its all in your head.

Then go to the piano, rather than consciously thinking loud here, soft here, just hear the piece as you intend it in your mind. Actually feel it, hear it and intend it as you play the notes..

I appreciate that this is quite difficult initially - You can alternate between playing it just in your head, and then trying to hear it in your head and play at the same time. Eventually you'll be able to handle both tasks simultaneously.

[ajspiano]

If i can elaborate at all...

Emotions are not a logical or rational experience. There are some people perhaps that have great control over their minds so that they can choose to feel something, but from most of us you simply can not say "ok, i'm going to feel sad now so that my music sounds sad". Something has to trigger your emotion.

You can't play and expect to feel, you have to feel, and play the way you feel. Hearing the notes inside your head as well as with your ears when playing allows you to do that because music is so powerful when it comes to evoking strong feelings.

Hope I'm making some sense, you'll obviously have to experiment yourself.

EDIT:

This all assumes a certain level of competence as well, producing varying dynamics obviously has to be done without thought at all, as a subconscious reaction to the current state of mind. Perhaps also dynamics can be decided on and conciously practiced without 'feel' at first - but the ultimate aim is to have a finished product that is simply felt, and not thought about at all. This is also especially important when it comes to rhythm in music.